Storage architecture providing improved modification of access rights for stored data

ABSTRACT

A storage architecture and associated usage techniques are described for providing efficient modification and use of access rights for stored data. The access rights may be associated with data stored on blockchain storage, and a separate ledger storage system may be used to provide improvements for modifying access rights for such stored data. For example, groups of data may be created and stored on blockchain storage before access to the stored data groups is made available to end users, and additional information related to those stored data groups (e.g., about their access rights) may be stored in a separate ledger storage system. When a particular user later requests access rights for one of those previously stored data groups, corresponding modifications may be quickly made to the separate ledger storage system to provide the user with substantially immediate access to that stored data group.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/755,986, filed Nov. 5, 2019 and entitled “StorageArchitecture Providing Improved Modification Of Access Rights For StoredData,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following disclosure relates generally to a storage architecturethat provides efficient modification and use of access rights for storeddata, such as for data that is stored at least in part on a distributedblockchain and based at least in part on using a separate ledger storagesystem to improve data access operations.

BACKGROUND

Managing access to stored data is becoming increasingly difficult inmany situations, such as due to proliferation of devices and locationsin which data may be stored, as well as use of more complicated storagemechanisms (e.g., distributed storage mechanisms). One type ofdifficulty that arises involves managing which users have which accessrights for particular pieces or groups of stored data, and doing so asrapidly and accurately as possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a network diagram illustrating an example environment inwhich a Token Ledger Management (TLM) System is provided and used forcontrolling access rights to digital assets stored at least in part onblockchain storage, including illustrating example computing systemssuitable for executing an embodiment of such a system.

FIG. 1B is a network diagram illustrating an example environment ofmanaging access rights to digital assets stored on blockchain storagewithout using functionality of a Token Ledger Management (TLM) System.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a TokenLedger Management (TLM) System routine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A storage architecture and associated usage techniques are described forproviding efficient modification and use of access rights for storeddata. In at least some embodiments, the access rights are associatedwith data that is stored at least in part on distributed blockchainstorage, and a ledger storage system separate from the blockchainstorage is used to provide improvements (e.g., to improve the speed ofoperations) for modifying access rights for such stored data (e.g.,which users have read and/or write access rights to particular storeddata groups, which users have ownership access rights for particularstored data groups, etc.). For example, in at least some suchembodiments, multiple groups of unique data are created and stored onblockchain storage before access to the stored data groups is requestedby or otherwise made available to end users, and additional informationrelated to those stored data groups is stored in a separate ledgerstorage system, including information about access rights for thosestored data groups. When a particular user later requests access rightsfor one of those previously stored data groups, correspondingmodifications may be quickly made to the separate ledger storage systemto provide the user with immediate or substantially immediate access tothat stored data group, with a corresponding access right updateoptionally later added to the blockchain storage for that stored datagroup. Such a hybrid storage architecture provides various benefits,such as by the blockchain storage providing verifiable information abouta stored group of data (e.g., about the creation and/or modification ofthe stored group of data), while the separate ledger system providesbenefits with respect to modifying access rights for the stored group ofdata (e.g., greater speed, more flexibility in types of data accessrights, etc.). In at least some embodiments, the described techniquesare performed by automated operations of a computer-implemented TokenLedger Management (TLM) system, as discussed in greater detail below.

As noted above, distributed blockchain storage is used in at least someembodiments to store at least some data used with the describedtechniques, such as by using a bitcoin-based blockchain storage and/oran Ethereum-based blockchain storage and/or another type of blockchainstorage. In order for an end user to own a digital cryptographic tokencorresponding to a group of data stored on blockchain storage (e.g., anEthereum ERC-271 token, an Ethereum ERC-20 token, etc.), at least someprior systems required the end user to first create a digitalcrypto-wallet for that type of blockchain and to acquire some type ofdigital currency or other digital credit (e.g., proof-of-work,proof-of-stake, etc.) that is used to submit a transaction to thatblockchain, before a transaction for the end user to own the digitaltoken can occur. Conversely, in at least some embodiments using thedescribed storage architecture and associated usage techniques, the useof the separate ledger storage system enables the TLM system to storeand maintain access rights information separate from the blockchainsystem (optionally along with additional types of stored data, asdiscussed further below), so that the end user may perform activities toown a digital token or other associated access rights for a group ofdata stored on blockchain storage but without needing such a digitalwallet or digital credit.

For illustrative purposes, some embodiments are described below in whichspecific types of operations are performed, including with respect toparticular types of stored data, types of storage systems, types ofaccess rights and associated modifications, etc. For example, theblockchain storage used in some examples below is the Ethereumblockchain, although other blockchain systems or other types ofdistributed storage may be used in other embodiments. These examples areprovided for illustrative purposes and are simplified for the sake ofbrevity, and the inventive techniques may be used in a wide variety ofother situations, including with other types of modifications of accessrights to stored data and other types of uses of stored data, some ofwhich are discussed below—accordingly, it will be appreciated that thedescribed techniques are not limited to use with the example embodimentsdiscussed below.

FIG. 1B is a network diagram illustrating an example environment ofmanaging access for digital information that is stored on a blockchainwithout using functionality of a TLM system—in particular, in thisexample of how some prior systems operate, an end user must create adigital wallet for a type of blockchain storing the digital information,and must further acquire some type of digital currency or other digitalcredit for that blockchain in order to submit a transaction to thatblockchain, such as to store a group of data for which the end user hasownership access rights.

In particular, FIG. 1B illustrates an example end user 105 who has aclient computing device 145 (e.g., a laptop, desktop, smart phone,tablet, etc.) with capabilities for communicating over one or morenetworks 195 (e.g., the Internet) to communicate with other computingand storage systems, such as a remote server computing system 197, oneor more blockchain storage nodes 170, and/or optional other computingsystems 180. The client computing device 145 is illustrated inadditional detail, such as to include various hardware components,stored data and executable software instructions—each of the othercomputing systems and/or storage nodes may similarly include some or allsuch hardware components (and optionally additional hardwarecomponents), but the details are not illustrated herein for the othercomputing systems for the sake of brevity. In particular, the exampledevice 145 includes one or more hardware central processing unit (“CPU”)processors 105, various hardware input/output (“I/O”) components 110,storage 120, memory 130 and optionally one or more batteries 107.Illustrated I/O components in this example embodiment include a display111, a network connection interface 112, a computer-readable media drive113, and other I/O devices 115 (e.g., wireless or attached keyboards,mice or other pointing devices, microphones, speakers, cameras, othersensors, etc.). Other types of hardware components may additionally bepresent (e.g., other processors, such as a GPU, or graphics processingunit; a GPS, or global positioning system, transceiver and/or otherlocation-determination sensors; one or more IMUs, or internalmeasurement units; etc.), but are not illustrated in this example.

In this example the user has created a digital wallet 127 on storage120, for use in storing digital tokens corresponding to data stored onthe blockchain storage nodes, although in other embodiments such adigital wallet may instead be created in other manners (e.g., on one ofthe other computing systems 180, such as on a centralized exchange). Theillustrated embodiment also includes a browser program 140 a executingin memory 130 that the user uses to interact with the blockchain storagenodes and other computing systems (e.g., server computing system 197) inorder to perform blockchain-based transactions, although in otherembodiments the user may instead use other types of software programs todo so (e.g., one or more other optional programs 135 a, such as adecentralized application). In particular, the user uses the clientcomputing device 145 to perform one or more interactions 194 with theserver computing system 197 and blockchain storage nodes 170 to obtainaccess rights for digital information to be stored in the blockchaindata 175, such as to purchase ownership rights for digital informationthat is owned or otherwise controlled by server computing system 197,with that digital information then stored on the blockchain data 175 aspart of an ERC-271 digital token, and with that digital token thenstored in the digital wallet 127. Such a transaction may take, forexample, approximately 10-15 seconds to add corresponding data to theblockchain data 175, and may involve a variety of steps taken by theuser 105 beforehand to enable such a transaction to occur (e.g.,creation of the digital wallet 127; acquisition of digital currencyand/or other digital credits, not shown; etc.). Once the ERC-271 digitaltoken is stored in the digital wallet 127 and corresponding digitalinformation is stored on the blockchain storage nodes, the end user mayfurther access and use the corresponding digital information in variousmanners.

In contrast to FIG. 1B, FIG. 1A illustrates a storage architecture anduse of a Token Ledger Management (TLM) system to improve the control ofaccess rights for digital assets (or other groups of digitalinformation) that are stored at least in part on a blockchain storage.FIG. 1A includes several of the elements illustrated and discussed withrespect to FIG. 1B, including a user 105 using a client computing device145, one or more networks 195, one or more blockchain storage nodes 170storing blockchain data 175, and optionally one or more other computingsystem 180. However, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1A, thedigital wallet 127 of storage 120 of client computing device 145 mayoptionally not be present or used, such as if the user 105 instead usescapabilities provided by the TLM system 160 to manage access to digitalassets and other data stored by the blockchain storage nodes 170.

In particular, in this example the TLM system 160 operates inconjunction with one or more server computing systems 190 that providean online service (not shown) available for use by various end users. Insome such embodiments, the server computing system 190 and TLM system160 may be integrated together as one system 155 (e.g., with the servercomputing systems 190 executing the TLM system 160), while in otherembodiments the TLM system 160 may provide capabilities to multipledifferent server computing systems (and the multiple online servicesthat they provide), such as over networks 195, and with the TLM system160 being executed by one or more other computing systems (not shown).In this example, the TLM system 160 performs initial interactions 193over the networks 195 with the blockchain storage nodes 170 in order tocreate various unique digital assets that are stored at least in part inthe blockchain data 175, referred to herein at times as “pre-minting”the digital assets. In at least some embodiments, each such pre-minteddigital asset is stored at least in part on the blockchain nodes 170 asa non-monetary, non-fungible ERC-271 digital token, and those digitaltokens are stored by the TLM system in this example on one or moredigital wallets 162 maintained by the TLM system—the determination ofwhich digital assets to pre-mint may be made in various manners invarious embodiments, including based on instructions received fromserver computing system 190, as discussed in greater detail elsewhereherein.

The TLM system 160 further stores additional data for the pre-minteddigital assets on a separate ledger storage system 165 that it controls,with the ledger storage system being implemented in at least someembodiments on the one or more computing systems executing the TLMsystem 160 (e.g., on the one or more server computing systems 190 ifthey are implementing the TLM system), although in other embodimentssome or all of the ledger storage may instead be accessed by the TLMsystem over one or more intervening computer networks. The informationstored on the ledger 165 storage may include information about one ormore types of access rights for each such digital asset, such as toinitially indicate that the digital asset is owned by an entity (e.g.,the TLM system, the associated server computing system 190, etc.) thatinitially has all access rights in those digital assets. As an exampleof an entry in the ledger storage system, a ledger entry may indicate anentity (e.g., via unique user ID) and a digital token corresponding to adigital asset in which the entity has one or more access rights. Ifthere is only one type of access right and/or the entity has all accessrights, the ledger entry may optionally not include other information,while in other situations additional types of information may beincluded in the ledger entry, such as information about particularaccess rights granted or denied the entity, a type or class of thetoken, and optionally other associated information (e.g., images, video,text, etc.) as discussed in greater detail below. In other embodiments,some or all such associated information for a digital asset may bestored externally to the ledger storage, such as part of digital assetinformation 164 stored by the TLM system and/or on the blockchain (e.g.,with the digital asset information 164 including information about thetypes of information stored on the blockchain). In at least someembodiments, a particular digital asset may have multiple ledgerentries, such as with each entry indicating a particular type of accessright and associated entity that are all simultaneously valid, with anewer entry invalidating or otherwise taking precedence over an earlierentry for the same digital asset, etc.

At a time after the pre-minting of the digital assets 193, the user 105in the example of FIG. 1A uses the client computing device 145 toperform interactions 191 over the networks 195 with the TLM system 160and/or the server computing system 190 (e.g., with its online service),such as to request (e.g., purchase) one or more types of access rightsfor one or more of the pre-minted digital assets 193. In someembodiments, the user may request to obtain ownership rights to adigital asset that the user selects (e.g., to have exclusive use rightsto a particular digital asset 193, to have non-exclusive rights to readand/or write and/or otherwise use a particular digital asset, etc.). Insome embodiments, the user may further transmit monetary payment to theTLM system 160 and/or the server computing system 190 as part of therequest, such as from a credit card, bank account, or other monetarysource. If the TLM system 160 and/or server computing system 190approves the user request, the TLM system 160 performs interactions 155with the ledger storage 165 in order to modify the digital access rightsassociated with the particular digital asset, such as in a substantiallyimmediately manner (e.g., less than one second, less than five seconds,etc.). In addition, the TLM system 160 may optionally perform furtherinteractions 192 over the networks 195 with the blockchain storage nodes170 in order to update corresponding information in the blockchain data175, whether immediately or at a later time, and may optionally transfera corresponding digital token from a digital wallet 162 to a digitalwallet of the user, although in other embodiments such updating of thestorage blockchain data 175 and/or transfer of digital token may not beperformed at all or unless the user requests (e.g., and pays additionalamounts) for such additional activities.

The server computing system(s) 190 may further perform variousfunctionality, including providing an online service (not shown) that isavailable to end users. In the illustrated embodiment, the system(s) 190store user accounts 199 for end users that use the online service, andmay send instructions to the TLM system to pre-mint particular digitalassets for the online service and/or to take particular actions that itapproves on behalf of end users. In at least some such embodiments, theserver computing system(s) 190 may further store some or all of thedigital wallets 162 and/or digital asset information 164 for the digitalassets that it owns, controls or otherwise manages.

It will be appreciated that the illustrated computing systems anddevices in FIGS. 1A and 1B are merely illustrative and are not intendedto limit the scope of the present invention. For example, network 195may include portions of the Internet, a private network (e.g., acorporate network), a cellular network, or any other networks, includingcombinations of one or more such networks. In addition, client device145 and/or other computing systems and storage nodes may be connected toother devices that are not illustrated, including through one or morenetworks such as the Internet or via the Web. More generally, a “client”or “server” computing system or device may comprise any combination ofhardware that can interact and perform the described types offunctionality, such as when programmed or otherwise configured withsoftware, including without limitation desktop computers, laptopcomputers, slate computers, tablet computers, embedded computers,specialized hardware such as ASICs (“application-specific integratedcircuits”) or other computers, smart phone computing devices and othercell phones, Internet appliances, PDAs and other electronic organizers,database servers, network storage devices and other network devices,wireless phones, pagers, television-based systems (e.g., using set-topboxes and/or personal/digital video recorders and/or game consolesand/or media servers), and various other consumer products that includeappropriate inter-communication capabilities. For example, theillustrated system 160 and/or its components may include executablesoftware instructions and/or data structures in at least someembodiments, which when loaded on and/or executed by particularcomputing systems or devices may be used to program or otherwiseconfigure those systems or devices, such as to configure hardwareprocessors of those systems or devices. Alternatively, in otherembodiments, some or all of the software components and/or systems mayexecute in memory on another device and communicate with the illustratedcomputing system/device via inter-computer communication. In addition,while various items are illustrated as being stored in memory or onstorage at various times (e.g., while being used), these items orportions of them can be transferred between memory and storage and/orbetween storage devices (e.g., at different locations) for purposes ofmemory management and/or data integrity. Furthermore, the functionalityprovided by the illustrated system components may in some embodiments becombined in fewer components or distributed in additional components.Similarly, in some embodiments the functionality of some of theillustrated components may not be provided and/or other additionalfunctionality may be available.

Thus, in at least some embodiments, the illustrated components and/orsystems are software-based components/systems including softwareinstructions that, when executed by the CPU(s) of systems 190 and/or ofother systems executing the TLM system 160 and/or other hardwareprocessor means, program the processor(s) to automatically perform thedescribed operations for that component/system, including to use andexecute routines and other algorithms as described herein. Furthermore,in some embodiments, some or all of the components and/or systems may beimplemented or provided in other manners, such as at least partially infirmware and/or hardware means, including, but not limited to, one ormore application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), standardintegrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executing appropriateinstructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embeddedcontrollers), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complexprogrammable logic devices (CPLDs), etc. Some or all of the systems,components or data structures may also be stored (e.g., as softwareinstructions contents or structured data contents) on a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, such as a hard disk or flash drive orother non-volatile storage device, volatile or non-volatile memory(e.g., RAM), a network storage device, or a portable media article(e.g., a DVD disk, a CD disk, an optical disk, a flash memory device,etc.) to be read by an appropriate drive or via an appropriateconnection. The systems, components and data structures may also in someembodiments be transmitted as generated data signals (e.g., as part of acarrier wave or other analog or digital propagated signal) on a varietyof computer-readable transmission mediums, including wireless-based andwired/cable-based mediums, and can take a variety of forms (e.g., aspart of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discretedigital packets or frames). Such computer program products may also takeother forms in other embodiments. Accordingly, the present invention maybe practiced with other computer system configurations.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a TokenLedger Management system routine 200. The routine may be performed by,for example, execution of the TLM system 160 of FIG. 1A and/or toprovide functionality as is otherwise described in this document. Whilethe illustrated embodiment of the routine indicates serial interactionswith one or more end users and/or associated online services, it will beappreciated that some embodiments may support simultaneous access ofnumerous end users and/or associated online services to functionality ofthe system.

In the illustrated embodiment, the routine begins in block 210, whereinstructions or information are received, such as from an end user, anassociated online service, an operator of the TLM system, etc. Theroutine continues to block 215 to determine whether an indication isreceived to pre-mint one or more digital assets, such as an instructionfrom an online service of an associated server computing system usingfunctionality of the TLM system and/or from an operator of the TLMsystem. If so, the routine continues to block 220 to determine the oneor more digital assets to create (e.g., based on the instructionsreceived), to interact with the blockchain systems to create thosedigital assets, and to interact with the TLM ledger storage andoptionally other storage of the TLM system (or associated onlineservice) to store corresponding information about those digital assets,including to store information in the storage ledger about access rightsinitially assigned to the pre-minted digital assets.

If it is instead determined in block 215 that the instructions orinformation received in block 210 are not to pre-mint digital assets,the routine continues instead to block 230 to determine whether theinstructions or information received in block 210 are to modify accessrights for one or more digital assets, such as in response to a requestfrom an online service on behalf of an end user or instead directly froman end user (or other entity). If so, the routine continues to block 235to receive information about the end user or other indicated entity forwhich to modify access rights for one or more indicated digital assets,determines whether to perform the modification (e.g., if correspondingpayment is received and/or other modification criteria are satisfied),and if so proceeds to perform the modification. The modification of theaccess rights includes updating corresponding access rights informationstored in the TLM ledger storage, and may optionally include interactingwith the blockchain systems to update corresponding information forthose digital assets, whether immediately or at a later time. Afterblock 235, the routine continues to block 280 to optionally provideinformation to the indicated entity and/or to the other requestor aboutany access right information modifications that are performed, orinstead if the determination was made to not do the modification for oneor more reasons. In situations in which an end user is interacting withan online service provided by a server computing system associated withthe TLM system, the server computing system may receive the request fromthe user and send the corresponding request to the TLM system, with theserver computing system receiving a response and providing correspondinginformation to the end user. As one example, the end user may have anaccount with the server computing system via which the end user can viewor otherwise access digital assets according to the access rightsobtained by the user for those digital assets, as discussed in greaterdetail elsewhere herein.

If it is instead determined in block 230 that the instructions orinformation received in block 210 are not to modify access rights forone or more digital assets, the routine continues instead to block 290to perform one or more other indicated operations as appropriate. Suchother operations may include, for example, receiving and storinginformation of various types, creating and/or modifying an end useraccount (e.g., if the TLM system is operating in associated with orotherwise associated with the particular server computing system), etc.In addition, such other operations may, in at least some embodiments,include receiving requests from or on behalf of an end user or otherentity to access a particular digital asset (e.g., a digital asset forwhich the end user previously obtained access), or to determine whetherthe end user or other entity is authorized for a particular type ofaccess right for a particular digital asset—if so, the routine in block290 may retrieve corresponding access right information for the digitalasset (and optionally other associated information for the digital assetthat is stored in the ledger storage and/or blockchain and/or otherstorage of the TLM system) and provide a corresponding response,including to optionally provide any such retrieved additionalinformation. Such a request from or on behalf of an end user (or otherentity) may, for example, be to view an indicated digital asset (inwhich case a response may be to provide some or all of the digital assetto the end user, if the request is authorized), to modify an indicateddigital asset (in which case a response may be to modify some or all ofthe digital asset stored on the distributed blockchain storage and/or onthe ledger storage, if the request is authorized), to relinquishownership or other existing access right(s) of the end user to anindicated digital asset (in which case a response may be to modify thecorresponding access rights information stored on the ledger storageand/or on the distributed blockchain storage to effect the change, ifthe request is authorized), to transfer ownership or other existingaccess right(s) for an indicated digital asset from the end user toanother indicated end user or other entity (in which case a response maybe to modify the corresponding access rights information stored on theledger storage and/or on the distributed blockchain storage to effectthe change, if the request is authorized), to add additional associatedstored information for an indicated digital asset (in which case aresponse may be to store, in association with the indicated digitalasset, the additional associated information on the ledger storageand/or on the distributed blockchain storage, if the request isauthorized), etc. Such a request may be made on behalf of an end userby, for example, the TLM system and/or an online service with which theend user is interacting or has interacted, such as to add informationfor an indicated digital asset about an associated accomplishmentachieved by the end user or event in which the end user participates.

After blocks 220, 280, or 290, the routine continues to block 295, whereit determines whether to continue, such as until an explicit indicationto terminate is received. If it is determined to continue, the routinereturns to block 210, and otherwise continues to block 299 and ends.

As discussed above, the stored digital assets or other data/digitalinformation managed by an embodiment of the TLM system may have variousforms and various embodiments, including some embodiments to be digitalassets that are non-fungible and have a limited quantity of one or adefined number of digital asset instances of a particular type or classor group (e.g., a crypto-collectible). In embodiments in which anEthereum blockchain is used, for example, such a digital asset may berepresented by use of an ERC-271 token in at least some embodiments,although other types of tokens or stored groups of data may be used inother embodiments. Non-exclusive examples of such digital assets orother types of stored groups of data include a digital baseball card orother sports card for particular players and/or teams (e.g., forprofessional sports; amateur sports; eSports, or electronic sports;etc.), a digital collectible of other types (whether representingcorresponding people and/or places and/or things in the real world orinstead representing virtual people and/or places and/or things that donot have counterparts in the real world), identity information forparticular users (e.g., profile information, such as demographics,preferences, etc.), property deeds, stock certificates, provenanceinformation for valuable items, photographs or other images,user-specific emojis, etc.

As noted above, in some embodiments a server computing system mayprovide functionality, such as an online service, with which an end usermay interact with to obtain or modify access rights in particulardigital assets, such as to obtain ownership rights or an exclusivelicense to use one or more particular digital assets or a non-exclusivelicense to use one or more particular digital assets. In suchembodiments, the server computing system and/or its online service mayprovide additional functionality, such as to allow users to view orotherwise access their digital assets, to display visual representationsof the digital assets to themselves and/or others (to create and displaysets of related digital assets), to use in third-party games, to exportto other systems (e.g., social media sites), etc.

In addition to the digital asset itself, various other associatedinformation may be included with or as part of a digital asset. As onenon-exclusive example, if a digital asset is a collectible baseballcard, additional types of information that can be stored in the TLMstorage ledger and/or on the blockchain and/or on other TLM systemstorage may include information about the player and/or a player's team,such as charitable initiatives of the player, functionality for videochats and/or texts and/or meet-ups, information about VIP access to theplayer and/or the player's team, retail discounts, product placements,etc. In addition, in some embodiments functionality may be provided foran end user to obtain a digital equivalent of the player signing theuser's copy of the digital baseball card, with the digital assetmodified to include a verifiable or otherwise reliable indication ofthat “signature”—similarly, other types of information may similarly bedigitally associated with the digital baseball card asset for the user(e.g., an indication of a number of games attended by the user for theteam at which the player played, the user's presence at a historic eventor achievement done by the player, etc.). In at least some suchembodiments, additional information may be associated with the digitalassets and/or provided by the TLM system or an associated servercomputing system, such as to associate geo-location information with auser and/or a digital asset (e.g., if a digital token is stored on asmartphone or other portable device of the user, by using GPS or otherfunctionality of that device or of related devices, such as a cell phonenetwork, to track the location of that device), in order to determinewhether the user is present at a particular location and/or event.

In other embodiments in which such geo-location information may be usedwith a digital asset, the TLM system and/or an online service of anassociated server computing system may provide additional associatedfunctionality, such as to place certain digital assets in designatedgeographical locations so that end users can find and acquire ownershipor other access rights to such digital assets.

In addition, in some embodiments the TLM system and/or an online serviceof an associated server computing system may provide additionalfunctionality to an end user or other entity who owns some or all accessrights for such a digital asset, such as for a user who owns one or moredigital baseball cards to receive discounts or other benefits at aphysical point-of-sale location associated with the player and/or theplayer's team (e.g., a team store retail location).

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments thevarious described systems and modules may each perform functionalitythat may be expressed in one or more routines, such as to performvarious steps or operations in various manners (e.g., in serial or inparallel, in a synchronous or asynchronous manner, in a particularorder, etc.). Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that thedata structures discussed above may be structured in different manners,such as by having a single data structure split into multiple datastructures or by having multiple data structures consolidated into asingle data structure. Similarly, in some embodiments illustrated datastructures may store more or less information than is described, such aswhen other illustrated data structures instead lack or include suchinformation respectively, or when the amount or types of informationthat is stored is altered.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specificembodiments have been described herein for purposes of illustration,various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit andscope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited exceptas by corresponding claims and the elements recited therein. Inaddition, while certain aspects have been discussed in specific termssuch as to be described as processes and/or systems and/or may bepresented at times in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate thevarious aspects of the invention in any available claim form, includingmethods, systems, computer-readable mediums on which are storedexecutable instructions or other contents to cause a method to beperformed and/or on which are stored one or more data structures toenable performance of such a method, etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:creating, by one or more computing systems, multiple digital assetsbefore receiving any requests from end users for use of the digitalassets, including storing each of the digital assets on a distributedblockchain storage system, and storing information about access rightsfor each of the multiple digital assets on a ledger storage systemseparate from the distributed blockchain storage system; receiving, bythe one or more computing systems, and after the creating of themultiple digital assets, a request from a first end user to obtain oneor more access rights for a first digital asset of the multiple digitalassets, wherein the first digital asset is a non-fungible digitalcryptographic token that does not represent a monetary amount;providing, by the one or more computing systems and in response to therequest, the first end user with the one or more access rights to thefirst digital asset, including updating the stored information on theledger storage system about the access rights for the first digitalasset to include the one or more access rights for the first end user;and providing, by the one or more computing systems, and to the firstend user based at least in part on the one or more access rightsincluded in the stored information on the ledger storage system, accessto the first digital asset in accordance with the one or more accessrights, including receiving an access request from the first end userfor access of an indicated type to the first digital asset, anddetermining, by the one or more computing systems, that the one or moreaccess rights authorize the access of the indicated type by the firstend user, and interacting with the distributed blockchain storage systemto access the stored digital asset; receiving a second access requestfrom the first end user for access of a second indicated type to thefirst digital asset, and preventing, by the one or more computingsystems, the first end user from obtaining the access of the secondindicated type to the first digital asset based at least in part on theaccess of the second indicated type not being authorized by the one ormore access rights; and receiving a third access request from a secondend user for access of the indicated type to the first digital asset,and preventing, by the one or more computing systems, the second enduser from obtaining the access of the indicated type to the firstdigital asset based at least in part on a determination that the storedinformation on the ledger storage system about the access rights for thefirst digital asset do not include any access rights for the second enduser.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the creatingof the multiple digital assets is performed in response to a requestfrom an entity that provides end users with functionality involving useof the digital assets, and wherein the providing of the first end userwith the one or more access rights to the first digital asset furthercomprises determining, by the one or more computing systems, that thefirst end user has satisfied one or more defined criteria specified bythe entity for obtaining the one or more access rights.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the one or more accessrights for the first digital asset include multiple types of accessrights, wherein the updating of the stored information on the ledgerstorage system further includes storing an indication of the first enduser in association with an identification of the one or more accessrights, and wherein the providing to the first end user of the access tothe first digital asset is based at least in part on the storedindication of the first end user in association with the identificationof at least one of the one or more access rights that corresponds to theaccess of the indicated type.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1 wherein the provided access of the first end user of theindicated type to the first digital asset includes at least one of:viewing the first digital asset, such that the providing of the accessincludes transmitting a visual representation of the first digital assetto a client device of the first end user; or modifying the first digitalasset, such that the providing of the access includes receivinginformation from the first end user related to the first digital asset,and updating stored information for the first digital asset to reflectthe received information; or transferring an indicated access right ofthe one or more access rights to a second end user, such that theproviding of the access includes receiving information from the firstend user related to the second end user and the indicated access right,and updating stored information about the access rights for the firstdigital asset on the ledger storage system to include the indicatedaccess right of the second end user to the first digital asset; orassociating additional information with the first digital asset, suchthat the providing of the access includes receiving the additionalinformation, and updating stored information for the first digital asseton the ledger storage system to include the additional information. 5.The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising: includingthe first digital asset in a group of multiple other digital assets, andproviding functionality to the first end user to collect all digitalassets of the group; or exporting the first digital asset, from thetoken ledger management system, to at least one other software systemimplemented by at least one other computing system for use by the firstend user in the at least one other software system; or providing, to thefirst end user at a physical location, one or more benefits that areassociated with the first digital asset; or assigning multipleadditional digital assets to multiple geographical locations, andproviding functionality to the first end user to retrieve one or more ofthe multiple additional digital assets if the first end user is at oneor more geographical locations to which the one or more additionaldigital assets are assigned.
 6. A system, comprising: one or morehardware processors of one or more computing systems; one or morestorage devices that store a ledger associated with a token ledgermanagement system, and store an account of an end user that does notinclude functionality of a digital wallet; a network interface tointeract with other computing systems providing a blockchain storagesystem; and one or more memories with stored instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the systemto perform automated operations for the token ledger management systemthat include at least: creating a digital asset that is a cryptographictoken, including using the network interface to store information aboutthe digital asset on the blockchain storage system, and storinginformation about one or more access rights for the digital asset in theledger on the one or more storage devices; receiving, after the creatingof the digital asset, a request to provide the end user with at leastone access right for the digital asset; updating the stored informationin the ledger and the account of the end user to include the at leastone access right for the end user to the digital asset; and providing,based at least in part on the at least one access right being includedin the stored information on the ledger and the account of the end user,access of the end user to the digital asset in accordance with the atleast one access right, including interacting with the blockchainstorage system to access the cryptographic token.
 7. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored contents that cause one or morecomputing systems to perform automated operations including at least:creating, by one or more computing systems, a digital asset, includingstoring information about the digital asset on a blockchain storagesystem, and storing information about one or more access rights for thedigital asset on a ledger storage system separate from the blockchainstorage system, wherein the digital asset includes a cryptographic tokenstored on the blockchain storage system, and wherein the ledger storagesystem is associated with a token ledger management system; receiving,by the one or more computing systems, and after the creating of thedigital asset, a request to provide an end user with at least one accessright for the digital asset; updating, by the one or more computingsystems, the stored information on the ledger storage system to includethe at least one access right for the end user to the digital asset; andproviding, by the one or more computing systems, and based at least inpart on the at least one access right being included in the storedinformation on the ledger storage system, access of the end user to thedigital asset in accordance with the at least one access right, whereinthe one or more computing systems further implement the token ledgermanagement system, wherein the token ledger management system providesan account for the end user that is used to store information for theend user about the at least one access right to the digital assetwithout providing functionality of a digital wallet and without usingany digital credit of the end user, and wherein the providing of theaccess of the end user to the digital asset is performed at least inpart by the token ledger management system using the information in theaccount for the end user to interact with the blockchain storage systemand access the stored cryptographic token.
 8. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 7 wherein the storing of theinformation about the one or more access rights for the digital asset onthe ledger storage system further includes storing an identifier of thetoken ledger management system in association with an indication of thecryptographic token in a ledger entry of the ledger storage system, andwherein the updating of the stored information on the ledger storagesystem includes storing an identifier of the end user in associationwith the indication of the digital cryptographic token.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 wherein the one ormore access rights for the digital asset include multiple types ofaccess rights, and wherein the updating of the stored information on theledger storage system further includes storing the identifier of the enduser in association with an identification of a type of the at least oneaccess right.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7wherein the at least one access right of the end user for the digitalasset includes at least one of: viewing the digital asset, such that theproviding of the access of the end user to the digital asset includestransmitting a visual representation of the digital asset to a clientdevice of the end user; or modifying the digital asset, such that theproviding of the access of the end user to the digital asset includesreceiving information from the end user related to the digital asset,and updating stored information for the digital asset to reflect thereceived information; or transferring an indicated access right of theone or more access rights to a second end user, such that the providingof the access of the end user to the digital asset includes receivinginformation from the end user related to the second end user and theindicated access right, and updating the stored information about theaccess rights for the digital asset on the ledger storage system toinclude the indicated access right of the second end user to the digitalasset; or associating additional information with the digital asset,such that the providing of the access of the end user to the digitalasset includes receiving the additional information, and updating storedinformation for the digital asset on the ledger storage system toinclude the additional information.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 7 wherein the blockchain storagesystem is implemented on a plurality of computing systems separated fromthe one or more computing systems by one or more computer networks,wherein the ledger storage system is implemented on the one or morecomputing systems, wherein the creating of the digital asset isperformed as part of creating multiple digital assets before receivingany requests for use of any of the digital assets and includes the oneor more computing systems interacting over the one or more computernetworks with at least one of the plurality of computing systems tostore each of the multiple digital assets on the blockchain storagesystem, and wherein each of the multiple digital assets is anon-fungible digital cryptographic token that does not represent amonetary amount.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 7 wherein the stored contents include software instructions that,when executed, program the one or more computing systems to performfurther automated operations including at least one of: including thedigital asset in a group of multiple other digital assets, and providingfunctionality to the end user to collect all digital assets of thegroup; or exporting the digital asset, from the token ledger managementsystem, to at least one other software system implemented by at leastone other computing system for use by the end user in the at least oneother software system; or providing, to the end user at a physicallocation, one or more benefits that are associated with the digitalasset; or assigning multiple additional digital assets to multiplegeographical locations, and providing functionality to the end user toretrieve one or more of the multiple additional digital assets if theend user is at one or more geographical locations to which the one ormore additional digital assets are assigned.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored contents that cause one or morecomputing systems to perform automated operations including at least:creating, by the one or more computing systems, a digital cryptographictoken, including storing the digital cryptographic token on a blockchainstorage system, and storing, in a ledger entry of ledger storage of atoken ledger management system separate from the blockchain storagesystem, an identifier of the token ledger management system inassociation with an indication of the digital cryptographic token andinformation about multiple types of access rights for the digitalcryptographic token; receiving, by the one or more computing systems,and after the creating of the digital cryptographic token, a request toprovide an end user with at least one access right for the digitalcryptographic token; updating, by the one or more computing systems,stored information on the ledger storage to include the at least oneaccess right to the digital cryptographic token for the end user,wherein the updating of the stored information on the ledger storageincludes storing an identifier of the end user in association with theindication of the digital cryptographic token and with an identificationof a type of the at least one access right and with at least one of atype of the digital cryptographic token, or an image associated with thedigital cryptographic token, or a video associated with the digitalcryptographic token, or text associated with the digital cryptographictoken, or one or more geographical locations associated with the digitalcryptographic token; and providing, by the one or more computingsystems, and based at least in part on the at least one access rightbeing included in the stored information on the ledger storage, accessof the end user to the digital cryptographic token in accordance withthe at least one access right.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 13 wherein the stored contents include softwareinstructions that, when executed, program the one or more computingsystems to further store, on the ledger storage, the at least one of thetype of the digital cryptographic token, or the image, or the video, orthe text, or the one or more geographical locations.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having stored contents thatcause one or more computing systems to perform automated operationsincluding at least: creating, by one or more computing systems, multipledigital assets before receiving any requests for use of any of thedigital assets, including interacting over one or more computer networkswith at least one of a plurality of computing systems that implement ablockchain storage system to store each of the multiple digital assetson the blockchain storage system, and storing, for one of the multipledigital assets, information about one or more access rights for the onedigital asset on a ledger storage system that is implemented on the oneor more computing systems and is separate from the blockchain storagesystem, and wherein the multiple digital assets are each a non-fungibleEthereum ERC-271 digital cryptographic token; receiving, by the one ormore computing systems, and after the creating of the multiple digitalassets, a request to provide an end user with at least one access rightfor the one digital asset; updating, by the one or more computingsystems, the stored information on the ledger storage system to includefor the end user the at least one access right to the one digital asset;and providing, by the one or more computing systems, and based at leastin part on the at least one access right being included in the storedinformation on the ledger storage system, access of the end user to theone digital asset in accordance with the at least one access right. 16.A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored contents thatcause one or more computing systems to perform automated operationsincluding at least: creating, by one or more computing systems, multipledigital assets before receiving any requests for use of any of thedigital assets, including interacting over one or more computer networkswith at least one of a plurality of computing systems that implement ablockchain storage system to store each of the multiple digital assetson the blockchain storage system, and storing, for one of the multipledigital assets, information about one or more access rights for the onedigital asset on a ledger storage system that is implemented on the oneor more computing systems and is separate from the blockchain storagesystem, and wherein the multiple digital assets are non-fungible digitalcryptographic tokens that are at least one of a set of digitalcollectible items or a set of digital sports cards representing players;receiving, by the one or more computing systems, and after the creatingof the multiple digital assets, a request to provide an end user with atleast one access right for the one digital asset; updating, by the oneor more computing systems, the stored information on the ledger storagesystem to include for the end user the at least one access right to theone digital asset; and providing, by the one or more computing systems,and based at least in part on the at least one access right beingincluded in the stored information on the ledger storage system, accessof the end user to the one digital asset in accordance with the at leastone access right.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored contents that cause one or more computing systems to performautomated operations including at least: creating, by one or morecomputing systems, multiple digital assets before receiving any requestsfor use of any of the digital assets, including interacting over one ormore computer networks with at least one of a plurality of computingsystems that implement a blockchain storage system to store each of themultiple digital assets on the blockchain storage system, and storing,for one of the multiple digital assets, information about one or moreaccess rights for the one digital asset on a ledger storage system thatis implemented on the one or more computing systems and is separate fromthe blockchain storage system, and wherein the multiple digital assetsare each a non-fungible digital cryptographic token that represents atleast one of a property deed, or a stock certificate, or provenanceinformation for a physical item, or an image, or an emoji created by anend user, or one or more types of identity information for an end user;and receiving, by the one or more computing systems, and after thecreating of the multiple digital assets, a request to provide an enduser with at least one access right for the one digital asset; updating,by the one or more computing systems, the stored information on theledger storage system to include for the end user the at least oneaccess right to the one digital asset; and providing, by the one or morecomputing systems, and based at least in part on the at least one accessright being included in the stored information on the ledger storagesystem, access of the end user to the one digital asset in accordancewith the at least one access right.
 18. The system of claim 6 whereinthe stored instructions include software instructions that, whenexecuted, program the system to perform further automated operationsincluding at least one of: including the digital asset in a group ofmultiple other digital assets, and providing functionality to the enduser to collect all digital assets of the group; or exporting thedigital asset, from the token ledger management system, to at least oneother software system implemented by at least one other computing systemfor use by the end user in the at least one other software system; orproviding, to the end user at a physical location, one or more benefitsthat are associated with the digital asset; or assigning multipleadditional digital assets to multiple geographical locations, andproviding functionality to the end user to retrieve one or more of themultiple additional digital assets if the end user is at one or moregeographical locations to which the one or more additional digitalassets are assigned.
 19. The system of claim 6 wherein the creating ofthe digital asset is performed as part of creating multiple digitalassets before receiving any requests for use of any of the digitalassets and includes the system interacting over one or more computernetworks with at least one computing system to store each of themultiple digital assets on the blockchain storage system, and whereineach of the multiple digital assets is a non-fungible digitalcryptographic token that does not represent a monetary amount.
 20. Thesystem of claim 6 wherein the one or more access rights for the digitalasset include multiple types of access rights, wherein the updating ofthe stored information on the ledger further includes storing anindication of the end user in association with an identification of theone or more access rights, and wherein the providing to the end user ofthe access to the digital asset is based at least in part on the storedindication of the end user in association with the identification of atleast one of the one or more access rights that corresponds to theaccess of the indicated type.
 21. The system of claim 6 wherein theprovided access of the end user to the digital asset includes at leastone of: viewing the digital asset, such that the providing of the accessincludes transmitting a visual representation of the digital asset to aclient device of the end user; or modifying the digital asset, such thatthe providing of the access includes receiving information from the enduser related to the digital asset, and updating stored information forthe digital asset to reflect the received information; or transferringan indicated access right of the one or more access rights to a secondend user, such that the providing of the access includes receivinginformation from the end user related to the second end user and theindicated access right, and updating stored information about the accessrights for the digital asset on the ledger to include the indicatedaccess right of the second end user to the digital asset; or associatingadditional information with the digital asset, such that the providingof the access includes receiving the additional information, andupdating stored information for the digital asset on the ledger toinclude the additional information.